The Effects of Sleep Deprivation - Adults

This week we will be looking at how adults can be affected by a lack of sleep - worryingly these effects are the same whether the deprivation is caused by insomnia or just trying to fit too much into your day.

Since the beginning of the last century great leaps in technology have promised us more time for leisure and activities we enjoy. Electricity and light-bulbs promised us that we could do more in the evenings and the early hours of darkness. Time to spend with family and loved ones, time to read and do other hobbies rather than going to bed soon after dusk.

In reality some of the advances have actually impacted the amount of time we spend asleep and the impact is increasing year on year. On average humans now sleep for about an hour less than we did 60 years ago.

Television was a great invention but used to switch off in the evenings, now it is available 24/7 and there is always another programme to watch. As the technology improved, TV's have now expanded into the bedroom and have an even bigger impact on sleep levels.

Now the internet and the sophistication of mobile technology means that we are connected to work all the time. The days of leaving work at 5pm and heading home for an evening with the family are diminishing, with only a few occupations left where this is possible. I remember my father being 'on call' one night a week and one weekend in four. This did impact our lives but for the other nights/weekends he was off duty. Now Doctors can be called all the time and are never off duty. This isn't just for the medical profession though - hands up who checks their emails one last time before going to bed, over the weekend or even when on holiday.

Computers have introduced and updated a new range of hobbies and pastimes. Several clients have reported to me that if they can not sleep they get up and play on-line games during the night. These range from card games and chess through to the latest shoot-em dead epic. The thing is they all stimulate the brain and delay the opportunity for falling back to sleep.

Sometimes we expect our brains and bodies to act like computers and switch on and off automatically. We go to bed, so stimulated - through technology, work, caffeine etc - and expect to fall asleep as soon as we hit the pillow. In fact our brains need time to wind down before being relaxed enough to sleep. In the 'old days' the sunset and darkness would be enough of a trigger but now artifical light (especially the lights on computers and kindles etc) stimulate the retinas at the back of hours and delay the sleep mechanisms of the brain kicking in. Reading your kindle, even on the low light setting, sends light directly to your eyes, whereas reading a book with a sidelight slightly behind you sends only the light reflected off the page to your eyes. A big difference.

In this world of physical perfection some people are getting up ever earlier to fit in a workout or run before they go to work. In fact I often see this being offered as a solution to people who say that they do not have the time to exercise during the day - paraphrasing somewhat it is along the lines of 'Get up an hour early and fit in your exercise as it is important to have a physically fit body.' However, unless done with care, the physical benefits of exercise are diminished -if not negated - by the physical effects of sleep deprivation.

So whether or not you have the classic insomnia and lie awake staring at the ceiling or you are getting less than the recommended 7 to 8 hours as you are burning the candle at both ends - the effects on your body are exactly the same.

Sleep deprivation portrays itself in the body in a variety of ways including -
Lethargy
Poor concentration
Decreased performance in both physical and mental tasks
Increase in appetite
Weight gain
Increased risk of heart problems
Increased risk of diabetes
increased risk of strokes

The problem for most sleep deprived adults is that the effects are accumulated over time. You do not get diabetes after just one night of poor sleep. In fact, after just one night of poor sleep you feel ok, it was not a problem and you feel as if you could do it again.
You may have been slower at work, or felt tired on the way home but these effects are diminished by taking caffeine or other stimulants. So you do it again. Pulling an all nighter to get a report done. Staying out late with your friends. Watching a late night TV programme.

In fact your body has been pulling out all the stops to help you feel normal and ok and it has the resources to do this and it these that are causing the long term damage that one day may show up as a heart problem.

When you are sleep deprived your hormones are affected including leptin - that suppresses your appetite causing you to eat more. (The science bit is here). So you may eat a little more after a bad night's sleep, so what? It is the accumulative effect that causes weight gain and the increased risk of diabeties, heart problems and strokes.

Constantly taking stimulants to keep your performance levels high at work may gradually become a cycle of stimulants to wake you and sedatives to help you sleep.

Also if you start feeling tired, you skip on the exercise, further impacting on the problems for your health.

Without becoming a social recluse - what can you do help get back into a normal, healthy sleep pattern?

Make a sleep a priority in your life
Work out how many hours sleep you need a night and start to work towards getting them
Cut out caffeine after 2pm
Stop drinking alcohol 2 hours before bedtime
Take technology out of the bedroom - computers, smartphones, kindles, TV's etc
Have a 'no screen time' hour before bed
Read proper books at bedtime, not kindles
Use things like a having a bath as a wind down time before going to bed
If needed have strategic naps but not too late in the afternoon
Record and watch favourite late night programs at a later date
Have a time limit on social events on 'school nights'

If you are aware of sleep deprivation and the affect it is having on your body, you are already one step along the path of changing your habits. Good luck in your journey.

Sweet dreams

 If you think you have a problem with sleep deprivation and would like help resolving it and do not know where to begin, then please contact me for a free consultation session. charlotte@charlottewelply.com

To nap or not to nap....

I love my sleep and I especially love naps.

I enjoy sneaking into bed when I'm not supposed too, it is probably to do with the fact I should be doing something instead of sleeping! It's even better when I'm on holiday and dozing by the pool, hearing life go on around me and not either being awake or asleep, but comfortable in the warm sun and restoring my energy levels.
However it is something I need to keep an eye on as it could quite easily become a habit and start disrupting my nighttime sleeping patterns again.

During my insomniac days napping was very much a coping strategy and was the only way I survived after a run of really bad nights of sleep.

The conventional wisdom for insomniacs is not to have a nap, but I am sure that there are many like me who needed them. One thing I did notice was that a well timed nap could actually break an insomniac spell and make it easier to sleep that night. Counter-intuitive but true. It is a piece of advice that I have given to many people if they have not slept properly for several nights and they too have reported back positive results.

If this is the case for you then I recommend that it is done early afternoon and for no longer than 90 minutes (that is usually an entire sleep cycle) and go to bed that evening when you are feeling tired. Naps after 4pm or are for several hours are more likely to affect that night's sleep and should be avoided.

I am sometimes asked if napping should be part of your daily sleep needs.

There are certain well know figures who always napped and felt better for it - Winston Churchill comes to mind. These naps should only last between 20 and 30 minutes, any longer and they become a sleep and part of your sleep needs.
There are a lot of proven benefits for taking a quick afternoon '40 winks' including improved alertness and mental clarity, so the concept of someone taking a nap as being 'lazy' is diminishing. Some large organisations are catching up with this idea and provide sleep rooms and napping areas for their employees, however we have a long way to go until this becomes the norm for everyone.

For some people it is a lifestyle choice. Often a night owl who has to wake early for work reasons will partake in a little examination of their eyelids to help them through the day.
For a few of my clients and the work they do, it is easier for them to break their sleep into two sections and they have a long nap each afternoon and a shorter sleep during the night. This may well be useful to you if you are a shift worker or work unsociable hours, or in the case of one of my clients, have a small but global business that means he needs to be up early to work in Australian times and up late to work in US time zones. If this helps you the important thing is to keep an eye on your total number of sleep hours to make sure you are getting enough or, on the other hand, not too many!


So should you nap or not?

The answer really is down to you and your individual sleep needs. Some people report feeling groggy and disorientated after a nap and so for those people the answer would quite simply be a no.
However if you feel you benefit from it then why not? My advice would be to keep them short and of a restricted time. Either around 20 minutes, so you do not fall into a deep sleep, or a longer one lasting 90 minutes to allow you time for a deep sleep and then return to a lighter sleep - making it easier to wake up.

BTW - If you are on your holidays I don't think anyone will begrudge you a little shut eye on the beach!

Sweet dreams!

Oxygen Masks

In the safety briefing on the aeroplanes (you know that bit at the beginning of a flight that no-one really listens too) we are informed that in the case of having to use an oxygen mask that we should put one on ourselves first and then help those around us to put on theirs.
It makes sense because the drop in oxygen can happen so quickly that if you were to spend those seconds helping a child put on their mask, that you would be unconscious before you would be able to put on your own.
I find that our instinct as women is to put others first, especially if we have children and families. We are able to put so much pressure on ourselves, running a business and a household that we burn ourselves out.
In order to make more time in the day for others we sacrifice the very thing that would help us perform better in the first place. Sleep.

In this modern fast-paced world sleep is the essential that we think we can do without. Sleep seems to take up so much time. It seems easier to go to bed just half an hour later so that we can finish a work assignment, make a cake for the cake sale, check the emails one last time, stay longer at an after hours work function, catch a TV programme etc. It doesn't appear to have any major affect, so we repeat it another night, telling ourselves that we will catch up at the weekend.

Then the weekend is busy too, and so is the following week and before we fully realise, bedtime is creeping slowly but surely to a later and later time and we are failing to get a regular 7-9 hours sleep we need each night and are regularly surviving on 6 hours or less. Although you may feel tired or sleepy and believe there to be no immediate short term affects, the research shows otherwise.

There will be immediate affects on your performance and alertness, so staying up late to finish your work will impact on your ability to be efficient at work the following day. Sleep deprivation also can affect your alertness when driving or operating machinery, your effectiveness at making decisions, as well as causing stress in relationships - both personal and professional.

Long term sleep deprivation starts affecting your health including blood pressure, weight control, mental impairment and contribute towards the development of diabetes and strokes.

So putting this all into perspective - cutting back on your sleep to do more is actually making people less effective.
Here are some ideas that can help us ensure that we put on our own oxygen masks first and make sure we get enough sleep to for our own health and to help others in a more productive and effective way.

- Is it possible to take a power nap during the day? Join the ranks of the famous who nap - Churchill, Edison, Da Vinci and even Bill Clinton. A quick 20 minute power nap can help restore your energy levels and help in increasing productivity. Many companies are working with this idea and providing 'snooze' areas for their employees!

- Working all evening does not give the brain a chance to relax and wind down and sleep quality is improved by setting a time to switch off work related activities and spend time with your family and friends in the evening. This also has the added benefit of making you more productive the next day.

- Prioritising household tasks and delegating at home can also free up time to help you relax and sleep more effectively.

- Have a set bedtime and stick to it. Numerous studies have shown that regular sleep patterns not only  improve the quality of sleep but also helps your body prepare for sleep so that you are able to fall asleep more quickly and once asleep, stay asleep.

During life there will be times when you need to put others needs before your own sleep (when having young babies or caring for someone who is ill) but for the majority of the time the simple fact of putting ourselves first and ensuring that we get a great night's sleep means that we are able to be more productive, efficient and ultimately help those around us.

Sweet dreams!

Sleep Gadgets

I'm not sure what you're like, but I know that in my quest for a perfect night's sleep I tied out a few gadgets and gimmicks in the hope that they worked.
Most of them did not.

It's a minefield out there, trying to distinguish the hype from the truth and the fact that, as more and more people are reporting that they are sleep deprived, it is becoming a big business sector with many brands jumping on the bandwagon.

These are a few things that I have tried over the years, the list is not exhaustive and are only my feelings, but it would be good to start a discussion. I have not included herbal or alternative medication in this post.

Mattress - There is now a plethora of mattress types out there, all proclaiming to help you get a good night's sleep. They are a huge investment so which one do you choose?
The general advice is to replace them every 10 years and I would support this. In my backpacking days I slept on many a poor quality mattress and had a poor night's sleep. Sagging springs do not support the body and therefore will decrease the quality of your sleep.
As for the style of mattress - this is more a personal choice. A good bed showroom will let you lie on the mattresses and try them out. What is comfortable for one is not for another. If you are a couple that prefer different mattresses then look into getting the style where two different types can be zipped together. I personally find the foam mattresses very hot yet others swear by them. Take your time and try different shops and styles till you find one you like, do not be rushed into buying the first you come across.
Be wary of internet bargains - you can not try them out, what may seem like a good price may result in a low quality mattress. Also be wary of second hand, not only do you not know how old they are, they will have been 'shaped' by someone else's sleeping style. Also there are reports of bed bug infestations spreading through the use of second hand beds and furniture.
I have had a good quality orthopedic mattresses for a long while, it cost more than the basic mattress but was not overly expensive.

Pillows - again this is very much an area defined by personal preferences. I have been converted to the contoured pillows that give you neck support. I started using one because of a lot of tension in my upper back, I found it a little odd at first but now find it difficult to sleep with out one and end up bunching a 'normal' pillow under my neck to recreate the feeling of support.
Fortunately pillows are not as expensive as mattresses so a little trial and error will not cost the earth. Good bed shops will also have different pillows that you can try.

Magnets - A few years ago there was some hype around using magnets in pillows and on undersheets to help improve your sleep. I invested in a small sheet to try it out. I could feel a difference in my circulation (it improved that) but it did not really improve the quality of my sleep.
Magnetic therapy is also claimed to help those with arthritic and joint pain, and of course pain can stop you sleeping well and is a well know cause of insomnia. If you were in this category and wanted to try magnetic therapy, perhaps try a wristband to see if there is any improvement before making larger investments. Also look out for money back guarantees.

Massage machines - again there are certain types of massage machines on the market that claim t help improve sleep quality. The benefits they offer can be debateable. If you are stressed then yes, having a massage can help you relax and then sleep better, so they can help in the treatment of sleep problems rather than effectively cure them.

Sleep monitors - there has often been a huge difference in the amount of sleep that people think they get and the amount of sleep they do get. Traditional methods to show this have mainly revolved around keeping a sleep diary or going to a sleep centre and being 'wired up' for the night. Recently, with the improvement in technology there are some sleep monitors that you can buy and use at home. These, however do not always give accurate results with people reporting that the monitor bands slip off during the night, or register periods of inactivity as sleep, when the users report they were awake but just not moving. Also these monitors just record the amount of sleep you get, they do not improve the quality or length of sleep.

White noise/sound machines - these play background noises and music to either block out other noises or to provide a constant noise to help you fall asleep. I have to say that sometimes I have listened to music or meditations before going to sleep as this helps switch of a racing brain, though have not needed a special machine to help me do this. If you are sharing your bed then it is possible to buy headbands with inbuilt speakers and pillows that you can plug your ipod into so that your partner is not disturbed. If listening to music helps you sleep, it maybe worth checking these out.
If you want to see if white noise could help you sleep, then try running a small electric fan in your room to see if that helps before investing in a special machine.

After many years of trying different approaches, and finding some that helped a little or not at all, the only one that worked long term was following a structured behavioural therapy approach to actually retrain my body in the art of falling asleep and staying sleep. It was an effort at first but it was only for a few weeks and the benefits have been longer lasting than anything else I have tried. 

The end of sleep?

This is a really interesting article about whether we can reduce the amount of time we need to sleep by the use of medications and control devices.

I find it an interesting debate.

In some ways spending 8 hours each day being effectively unconscious seems like a waste of time. So if we can reduce that time, then why not?

Then the other part of me kicks in thinking that if this is what has successfully lead human beings through thousands of years of evolution, why tinker with it?

Presently scientists do not fully understand why we sleep. They know we need it and the effects that happen if we don't sleep but not actually why we do it. This seems strange, especially in the modern world where technology and science are teaching us so much about our world and our bodies.

I love sleep, the getting ready for bed, feeling comfy and all tucked up, drifting of to sleep and the bizzare thoughts that go through my mind, the dreams and then waking - still feeling warm and comfortable in bed. As an ex insomniac I also know the side effects of not getting enough sleep - both the physical and the mental ones. It would concern me that if we all started reducing our sleep and relied on medication etc to counter the side effects - what the long term effects on our bodies would be.

After just one night of poor sleep I find myself being grumpy and irritable, taking things out on people when it is not their fault, poor decision making, eating more and exercising less. The long term effects are even more debilitating. It sounds great that the ideas mentioned in the article could help reduce these effects (and it opens the interesting possibility of how could these be put to use to help insomniacs) but how long for?
So far they seem to have useful temporary uses, but what would the long term effect of these be? This is one medical trial that I would be reluctant to put myself forward for. I have spent the last couple of years getting my health, fitness and energy levels back on track and would not want to jeopardize them.

One of the major things I find sad, is this modern belief that by sleeping we are wasting our time, when in fact sleep helps us make the most of the time we have, to live it more fully, be more productive and active each day. The modern lifestyle seems intent on reducing the importance and the time we spend asleep - the initial thoughts that technology would make our lives simpler and easier, allowing for more downtime, has in-fact been shown to be untrue and people are now connected 24/7, checking work emails before bed and when on holiday etc.
My life has been transformed since sleeping properly and maybe it is the people who have poor sleep patterns that fully understand the importance of sleep, rather than those who fall asleep easily and think nothing of it, who feel that we can reduce it or go without it.

It will be interesting to see where the research goes to reduce the need for sleep or to actively encourage it? In the meantime I'll continue to enjoy my sleep all 8 hours of it.

What do you think? 

The Powercut

There was a local powercut in my street on Sunday night. This is quite rare and the last time I remember a power cut was several years ago when I was living in London, so I am really grateful that it doesn't happen that often. I am also aware that this blog has quite a global audience, so powercuts maybe more frequent for some people reading this.

However the timing could have been better as it was 15 minutes before an on-line event, I was organising, went live! It was frustrating knowing that it was all happening and I wasn't able to monitor the progress or sort out any blips. It was also frustrating seeing the lights on in the building opposite and having the internal debate with myself about whether I should go to the local bar and log on to their wi-fi.

Aside from all that, it was quite interesting experiencing a black out. The power went at 6.45pm as I was doing the ironing (in fact there is still a huge pile to be tackled, watching me write this!) At first there was the hope the power would come back quickly.
It was still daylight, reading was an option - until it got to dark to do that.
I had one head torch but don't think I've replaced the batteries on that, so didn't want to use it too much as I didn't know if they would run out.
So then it was the candles - which seemed very romantic at first, but were difficult to read by or do anything by, I have to say it was fun at first and quite novel but not something to be repeated too often!

Then I had a bath reasoning that by the time I'd soaked for a bit the power would be back on, it wasn't. This made the internal debate about the local bar even more difficult as I was now in pyjamas and didn't want to get dressed again!

Cooking by torch and candle light is interesting (but fortunately have gas!)
Once the washing up was done - what was there to do?

Yep, the night owl was curled up in bed by 10 pm, almost unheard of!

It made me think a lot about how our sleep problems are quite a modern day phenomenon. I am not for one minute suggesting that insomnia is a modern day problem, there are enough references to it in literature to know it has been around a long time.

It is the other sleep problems that we have that are more modern in making. The fact that we have distractions such as TV and the internet, smart phones, kindles - all of which raise the level of brightness that we expose our eyes too just as we should be doing the opposite and preparing our bodies for the night, the dark and bed.

How modern technology, that is supposed to liberate us and make lives simpler, actually makes it more difficult to have 'down time' as we check our emails one last time before bed, or 'just listen to the news headlines' or 'just watch this one more programme', before switching off.

Computer games (of all sorts) where we think 'Just one more round/level/game etc' before going to bed.

All this is eating into time where we used to be able to unwind and relax. The ultimate result of this relaxing and unwinding was a better quality of sleep for most of the population. No wonder that we are facing a health crisis in the West - with raising rates of stress, diabetes, heart disease, obesity. All these health problems have been linked to people who suffer from sleep deprivation (ranging from insomnia to not allowing enough time to sleep).

So my lesson from the powercut is to really make an effort to unwind and relax in the evenings - dim the lights, switch off the technology and allow time for me.

I hope I can do this long enough so that it becomes a habit!

Routines - how they can liberate you

I've been having thoughts along these lines in different areas of my life for a while now, and would like to share how they help with sleep too.

In a former life I used to work with parents, helping them improve their children's behaviour and one of the most common problems was that there was little or no routine in the house. Bedtimes and wake up times were erratic, mealtimes were whenever someone felt like cooking, in fact the only routine seemed to be around school (if there were school aged children in the home) and weekends ended up as one long blur.

When I asked these parents why there was no routine the common response was that they wanted to be 'spontaneous' 'live in the moment' and 'have fun'. There was also a popular theme of having a strict upbringing and wanting to be different with their children. However having no routine meant that the children were insecure, not sure what was happening and this displayed itself in their behaviour. I often found myself explaining that if you had no routine you couldn't be spontaneous, throwing in something different to do just added more chaos to the mix. Conversely if you have a good routine going, then saying to yourself one evening 'Let's jump in the car and go to the beach' is spontaneous and a fun and different thing to do because it is not the norm. It makes it more fun and more special and a brighter memory.

So what does this have to do with sleep?

Our brains and bodies need a structure to work round. For an adult the most obvious and defining point of this structure would be being asleep and being awake. then work and mealtimes, after that it is your free time and how you chose to spend it.

However - if your sleep times keep changing or are erratic then this begins to throw the whole routine out. If you are constantly changing your sleep times your body does not know what is happening, it is confused and doesn't work as well. Just like the children being cranky and displaying difficult behaviours when there is no daily routine.
As discussed in previous posts our bodies need triggers and reminders that it is time to sleep or time to be active, which is why good bedtimes routines can help adults as well as children. It is why shift workers have such problems sleeping as they are constantly changing their body rhythms.

I used to fight long and hard against the concept of any daily routine, especially in regards to sleep. I would tell myself that it was impractical to have a regular bedtime and wake up time, if I was actually sleeping - why wake and stop that. When on a week's holiday I could quite easily stay up till 2 or 3 in the morning reading and then wake up mid-morning, have a nap in the afternoon (because I had gone to sleep late) and go to sleep even later the next night. Within a couple of days my sleep patterns would be out the window and I would be cat napping when ever and where ever, but not getting a good night's sleep. The end result was that I would go back to work feeling exhausted, despite having had all that extra time to sleep!

Last year I took a good hard look at what was going on and decided to redefine my sleep routines. Though it was hard to admit, I am no longer a teenager and all night parties two or three times a week just don't happen any more!
So I looked at my work schedule, took into account my night owl tendencies and came up with a plan that I would get up at 8.30am at the latest. Every day. It seemed really tough for me at first but it has worked. A couple of days a week I need to get up earlier for work but I tell myself this is the exception, not the norm. On the weekends and the days I work from home the alarm is set for 8.30. It is easier to set up a regular getting up time, than a going to sleep time.

I won't lie and say it was easy. There were times I longed to stay in bed and sleep some more. It wasn't quick either, but I have stuck with it and it is paying off. My sleep has really improved!

I now get tired in the late evenings and actually want to go to bed (depending on how busy the day has been it varies between 11 and midnight). Though I do wake in the night, it is briefly. I now tend to wake before the alarm - something that I thought I would never say, and have some time in that nice drowsy state that used to happen after a lie-in, so I'm not missing out on that. The urge to nap has decreased and if I nap now, it is usually after an early start. I still have the occasional bad night, but it is now once every couple of weeks rather than several times a week.

The strange thing is that I now don't feel as if I am depriving myself of anything. I really thought that would be a problem (and in the early days it was hard) but as I am sleeping in more of a block, I wake up more refreshed and am able to achieve more and do more with my day.

The added bonus is that if I do pull a late night because of a party etc, it feels more special, like something spontaneous and different! There is a difference between going to bed at 3am because I was mooching round the house as usual and going to bed at 3am because I was out celebrating.

So if your sleep patterns are erratic, then I encourage you to take the plunge and set up a routine and see what happens. Remember, if you want advice or support with this, then please contact me, I'd love to help you get a great night's sleep.

Also if you want some new ideas and methods to help you go to sleep then check out next week's free http://www.worldsleepsummit.com/index.html, which I have set up especially to support people with sleep problems.

Sweet dreams!

Hummingbirds

I have had a couple of conversations with people recently about the whole Night Owl/Morning Lark concept and is it really a genetic thing and is it possible to change and have come across a new term - Hummingbirds. I adore these little birds and loved seeing large flocks of them in Costa Rica. Unfortunately I am not one!

There are people for whom their circadian rhythms are hard wired and they find it difficult to change. Latest studies estimate that 1 in 10 of us is a Lark and 2 in 10 are Owls. The rest hover in-between and can adapt to either situation, the Hummingbirds.

I see this when working in daycare with the young children. Most of the children are Hummingbirds and are lively throughout the day, perhaps slightly quieter first thing in the morning and becoming a little more grisly towards the evening. However you do see outstanding examples of Owls and Larks too.

One little 18 month old is a happy little boy, he arrives in the morning and gets on with his day. He is perfectly sociable and enjoys taking part in the activities and being around the other children. He has his midday nap and when he gets up he is a completely different child, he is far more energetic, laughs, shows his cheeky side, and is generally far more outgoing. It is amazing to watch. With his being so young, his sleep patterns take up most of the day and are standard for a child his age, but watching his temperament and behaviour you can see that he will be someone who comes alive later in the day.

Likewise, there is a little baby of 7 months, who rarely sleeps in the morning. He enjoys rolling around on the floor and playing with the toys. Try and get him to have a morning nap is difficult, put him in his cot and he will cry. You may be lucky to get 15 minutes from him. However he will sleep in the afternoon. it will be interesting to see how this develops but I suspect he will become an Lark.

The Hummingbirds have the advantages of being flexible and adaptable, they can get up early to start a shift, catch a flight etc as well as party till the early hours. The Hummingbird can also adapt more easily to life changes like a staying up late when at college, getting up earlier when starting in the workforce, having early rising children, switching to later sleep patterns when they retire.

I am a hard wired Night Owl and it has been difficult to bring my sleep times forward to Midnight to 8.30am, (my preferred times were 2am to 10am) and at the moment I can not see it getting any earlier. I struggle when on shift patterns and these are only variations of a couple of hours, not a day/night shift pattern such as hospital staff.  The way I cope now is to tell myself that the two days a week that I need to get up before 8.30 are the exception and not the norm. Psychologically that works for me.

Hummingbirds profit well from the modern lifestyle and work well throughout the day. Some Owls and Larks are in jobs that suit their hours but how do you make this work if you are in the 9-5. In reality the best thing to do is to work out your personal timings and when you do things well and incorporate those into your day. These can apply to Hummingbirds too as you may show a slight preference to when you are feeling more alert and when you are feeling more tired.

- You are alert in the mornings? Then use this time to be your most creative, working on projects, compiling reports etc. Then save your more mundane and routine tasks for later in the day when you are feeling tired or sluggish - checking emails, filling in stats forms etc.

- You take a while to get going in the mornings? Instead of staring into space waiting for inspiration use the time for the routine tasks that do not take much effort and save your meaningful and creative work for the afternoons when you are feeling more dynamic.

More and more jobs offer flexible hours and you can also also use these to your advantage.

So which do you think you are - Owl, Lark or Hummingbird?

Ticking bomb

Sorry to be dramatic, but I want to get serious about sleep.

There is yet another story in the press today about how sleep deprivation can affect health. It has been known that lack of sleep can cause heart disease, diabetes, obesity and poor brain function but the mechanics of how this happened had not been clear. The study found that less sleep alterers the genes thus causing the damage (don't worry, I'm not going into a science lesson here.)

However what I found shocking was the amount of sleep deprivation it took to cause these changes. Not because it was a big number, quite the opposite, but because it was such a small number and the changes happened very quickly.

The study examined the results of less than 6 hours sleep for a week. Let's look at that again - less than 6 hours for a week.

How many hours sleep do you get a night? There are many, many people out there who are getting less than 6 hours sleep, night after night. Even if you are in bed for 6 hours, you'll be getting less when you factor in the time it takes to get to sleep.
Had a hard week? Either staying up late to finish a project or partying hard and not catching up on your sleep, then you could be starting the chain of events.

Fortunately it is possible to easily and quickly improve the quality and length of your sleep. Here are some ideas.

1 - set your alarm clock to remind you to go to bed! Use the alarm function on your phone to set a time to stop working and start going to bed.

2 - switch of computers and work phones early in the evenings. Not only do the display screens stimulate your retinas and keep you awake longer, you also need to take a rest from work. Studies have shown that quality not quantity counts when working hard and that your work is more productive if are refreshed and well rested rather than sleep deprived.

3 - make your bedroom a calm and relaxing place to be, rather than a junk room. Ban computers and any other work associations. You will sleep better and more effectively if your bedroom is associated with sleep and sex only.

4 - stop drinking caffeine after 2pm, so that it has time to leave your body before bedtime and therefore will not affect your sleep.

5 - if you are an insomniac or have another sleep problem then ask about behavior therapy programmes as these have proven to be the most effective, long term way to improve your sleep. The medical world is waking up to the importance of sleep and there is a lot more support and help available than ever before.

Wishing you a great nights sleep!

Do you have a sleep bank?

A while ago I wrote about sleep debt its affect on day to day life. This time I want to introduce the idea of a sleep bank, where you can 'deposit' sleep hours before a busy week.

Studies have shown that there are benefits for accumulating sleep - Volunteers were split into two groups and one group slept normally for a week and the other accumulated sleep, both groups then had a week of sleep deprivation and only slept 3 hours a night. Those who had accumulated extra sleep performed better at mental and physical tasks, even towards the end of the week.

This is useful information for those in extreme circumstances such as soldiers before a big military operation but how can we use it in day to day life?

If you know that you are going to have a busy week - exams, traveling abroad for work, a relative with a scheduled operation etc, then you can plan to sleep an extra half hour to an hour each night the week before. You can also bank extra time through naps (but remember to keep them to early afternoon).
Try and keep to a regular routine and accumulate your extra sleep by going to bed early rather than lying in late, as you do not want to disturb your night time sleep. It is better to go to bed half an hour early each night, than have a lie-in for two hours one morning.

If you have children with a busy schedule of exams coming up, then ensure they go to bed early in the days leading up to the exams as anxiety and last minute studying may hinder sleep the night before.

If you are a competitive athlete and have been training for a big run or event then banking your sleep may help give you that edge on race day.

Going away for the weekend but will be sleeping a strange (and possibly uncomfortable) bed or be burning the candle at both ends for a weekend city break? Then planning your sleep ahead will help you make the most of your time away.

However please bear in mind that just like a bank account - if you already have a sleep debt, then trying to bank sleep will not work in your favour as you will still be repaying your debt!

Sweet dreams!

Night time activities

What do you do when you wake in the night?

Seems like a strange question and I am guessing that most people would say that they lie in bed, tossing and turning and trying to get back to sleep - all the while stressing about not sleeping.

I had a new client recently and she wanted to find the final piece of the puzzle to help her sleep through the night. She had had insomnia for years and done a lot of work in improving it, but would still wake in the night. During this time she would play on-line games and work with clients on the other side of the world. that combined with exercising late at night meant that she was doing 3 activities that were stimulating her brain and not helping herself to get into a relaxed state in which to fall asleep.

My initial reaction was to encourage her to stop these activities and go through new ideas to help her relax and start sleeping through the night. However the more I listened to her, the more I realised that actually she had worked out a lifestyle that suited her.

I have mentioned in a previous post that in the past we had segmented sleep and this idea is still a big talking point in the sleep community and are we going against nature to try and sleep through the night? While we know it is possible to sleep in 8 hours blocks, most people actually do wake in the night and then fall straight back to sleep again and have no recollection of waking, therefore believe they have slept through. For some people, waking in the night means waking in the night and staying awake a while (for some a long while!)

What this girl had done was to build a lifestyle round segmented sleep. She would sleep for a while, then wake - do some work, play games etc then go back to sleep again - her second sleep. Luckily for her, she is self employed and has international clients, so actually this lifestyle works well for her.

I have also found that a some barworkers and 'graveyard' shift workers have insomnia and difficulty going to sleep - now this could be a reflection on their lifestyle, but could it also be that they have found a lifestyle that suits their sleeping patterns. When I have talked with them, they often say that they had poor sleeping habits before they started their work and again, when you talk to them of ways to change it, they don't really want to as it doesn't really bother them that much; they know that if they go to sleep late that they can sleep in during the morning.

In the end I only had a couple of sessions with this client and she left feeling more confident that actually her seep pattern, though strange, did actually work. When totaling up her sleep hours she was getting enough sleep and was not feeling tired or exhausted (common complaints of insomnia). By allowing her to have this pattern also meant that she stopped worrying about sleep and therefore slept better, she also allowed herself to sleep later in the mornings and restructured her day slightly to allow herself enough time to sleep in these two blocks.

So what do you get up to in the night? Are you like my client and can use your insomnia constructively? Or do you prefer to be able to sleep through the night? Rest assured that whatever your sleep style preferences there are ways available to help you achieve them!

Sweet dreams.

New year, more sleep?

I never usually make New Year resolutions, mainly because my birthday is at the beginning of January and it's no fun starting a diet on the 1st of Jan when you know that you're going out celebrating in a few days time!
Yep, I was the person who gave up smoking on the 10th January 2000, I still get weird looks from people when asked about that.

However having this slightly more realistic time frame works and makes me far less likely to give up on my new plans after a few days.

The other thing that I have found works well is to have positive resolutions rather than negative one or at least to phrase them in a positive way. Wordplay helps a lot in making it more likely to be a successful resolution.

Telling yourself that you are going on a diet immediately fills your head with images of boring food, no treats, a strict regime etc. Telling yourself that you are going to make healthy food choices gives you a wide range of foods to choose from and more options to think about.

Likewise telling yourself that you are going to get fit, or have a slim body feels so much better than telling yourself you are going to lose weight or go jogging every day.

You can also try positive resolutions such as making 2013 the year you complete a 10k run, or go skydiving, write a book or a blog. It needn't be a big (or even expensive choice) you can resolve to say 'Yes' more often and see where that takes you, or start writing a gratitude diary every evening and see how that puts you in a more positive frame of mind. You could try smiling at passers-by in the street - it makes both you and them feel good, or giving out more compliments.

One of the things that I'm adding to my list is to go to bed a little earlier than I do at the moment! On 'school nights' I tend to get around 7 hours sleep but this is not enough for me, so I need to go to bed a little earlier. I know it will help me both physically and mentally (more energy, stamina, reduced appetite etc), but tend to find myself just checking out 'one more thing' on the internet before going to bed. The worst thing is that I know that I'm doing it and still do nothing about it!
In order to make it easier I'm going to set my alarm to remind me to go to bed! It's something I read about and thought 'Hey that's a great idea' but have never done. So 2013 is going to be the year I do it. I'm also going to make it realistic and aim for 15 minutes extra sleep to start with, I know that if I set for an extra hour I'll still think I have plenty of time for sleep and so ignore it and stay up! I feel I will be more successful if I do gradual increments, well I've got a whole year to get there!

Why not make 2013 the year to improve your sleep? It will reduce your stress levels, improve your health, help you lose weight and give you more energy - all pretty good results from one resolution!

Sweet dreams.

How much is your sleep debt?

According to statisticians we are accumulating around 500 hours of sleep debt a year! That's a lot of debt to pay back. In our modern, fast-paced world a lack of sleep is fast becoming a badge of honour. Do you ever brag about how little sleep you need? When working with my clients I often deal with cases of insomnia and other forms of physical sleep deprivation but far more interesting are those who can sleep but chose not to. Experts recommend 8 hours sleep a night but most people in the modern world are only getting between 6 and 7 hours a night. even a debt of an hour a night adds up very quickly.

Research shows time and time again how lack of sleep affects us both mentally and physically. In this 24/7 era of technology that is supposed to help us live life to the full, experiencing it in more ways than previously thought possible and being in constant communication with the entire world is actually causing more stress and strain on our bodies than in previous generations.

Years ago I had a boyfriend who started work later than me and so got about 45 minutes more sleep than me each night. At the weekend he was up and ready to go out, I was the one who wanted to catch up on my sleep as I felt exhausted. The difference in our energy levels was that noticeable.

Before the invention of artificial light only the very rich could afford a large number of candles and therefore to stay up late. For the rest of us nighttime meant going to bed early and rising with the sun in the morning. We got on average around 9 hours sleep a night. This also kept the body in touch with the rhythms of nature and the seasons. Now with electricity and light available all the time, as well as the advent 24 hour television and the internet we can all stay up late in the night.

So how does sleep debt affect us?

Short term affects include irritability, memory loss, blurred vision, poor judgment, susceptibility to infection, drop in glucose metabolism, and a rise in cortisol (the stress hormone) levels. It also affects how we store information and access it so if you are staying up all night studying or working the reduction in memory loss and judgment abilities is going to negate all the effort that you have put in. Studies on school children have shown that those who got an hours more sleep performed better in tests. Far better to have an early night instead!

Long term affects include a rise in obesity due to poor insulin control. This of course leads to other health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes etc.

Fortunately sleep debt can be paid back. Try going to bed 30 minutes to an hour earlier every night and see what difference that makes on your energy levels and mental alertness. Take the time to make sleep a priority in your life and you will see the benefits in your health and productivity. If you do have a late night - I don't want to be a party pooper, then make sure that you schedule time for an early night to catch up. A well timed nap will also help your energy levels and mental alertness.

 Life sometimes gets in the way of the best laid plans and there will times when getting enough sleep is difficult, parents with young children or caring for loved ones who are ill come to mind. If you are in these situations then remember that these are short term and come up with some strategies to help you cope - taking naps, getting children into good sleep routines, taking turns with a partner for weekend lie-ins etc, all help with keeping your sleep debt to a minimum.

Sweet dreams!

The second sleep

Do you often wake in the night and find it difficult to go back to sleep straight away?
Maybe it's not because you're a freak or different but because we are genetically programmed to do this!

There has been a lot of interest recently (with articles by the BBC, the Times and The Guardian amongst others) about 'the second sleep' and it seems that the human brain is actually programmed to sleep in two four hour chunks.

Research in the 1990's took volunteers and put them in 14 hours of darkness each day. After a few weeks the volunteers had started to sleep in two 4 hour blocks with a one to two hour period of being awake in the middle. despite being of great interest to sleep scientists, the belief that an eight hour block of sleep being the norm has persisted.

Then 2005, historian Roger Ekirch published a book called At Day's Close: Night in Times Past, where he draws on his research where he found over 500 references to segmented sleep in books, in diaries, court records, medical books and literature. what he found interesting was the way in which the references to this sleep pattern were made - as if it was totally normal and that everyone did it.

It seems that the labourers would come home from the work, have something to eat then go to bed - usually because they were really tired! Then approx 4 hours later they would wake up and do things! It was a time for conversation, for prayer, visiting the neighbours, having sex etc. Then they would go to bed and have a second sleep, and wake at dawn ready for another days work.
A doctor's manual from 16th Century France even advised couples that the best time to conceive was not at the end of a long day's labour but "after the first sleep", when "they have more enjoyment" and "do it better".

Ekirch found that references to the segmented sleep dwindle from the 17th Century onwards and links this to social change, the shift to living in cities and eventually the increase in street and domestic lighting, which helped develop a leaning towards socialising in the evening and pushed sleep into one later block of up to 8 hours.

Though the majority of people have adapted to sleeping in one 8 hour block, sleep researchers now think that this could be the root cause of sleep maintenance insomnia, where sufferers wake during the night. It is helpful to realise that most people do wake in the night but that most do not remember it, whereas an insomnia suffer, who is already stressed about lack of sleep, may become more anxious at waking and take longer to fall back asleep. For these people it the realisation that it is not some abnormality but in fact genetic programming may help them and their anxieties around sleep.

In fact, if we look there is still evidence of this segmented sleep around us. Babies who need to wake in the night for feeding, toddlers who still need an afternoon nap, and in hotter climates - an afternoon siesta during the heat of the day, followed by working later in the cool of the evening. The modern world with 24 hour electricity and an unbroken day work ethic actually is encroaching on our sleep patterns even more.

So maybe for those of us who do wake in the night, we need to be celebrating this fact - that we are more in tune with nature and our bodies, that we can use this period of wakefulness for contemplation, meditation and destress (just like our forefathers used the time for prayer and relaxation). Since I found out about segmented sleep a few months ago, I am more relaxed about waking in the night and call it my 'throwback'. Ironically, since being more relaxed about night time waking, I sleep better!

Please comment below if you are a segmented sleeper or have issues around night time waking, I'd love to know your thoughts.

Sweet dreams!

What are you telling yourself?

So, you've had a bad night's sleep, the alarm was unwelcome and you're about to face the day.
What are the thoughts going through your mind right now?

When I work with my clients, we look at their 'mental chatter'. Those thoughts that race through your head at any given moment.
'Need to buy some tomatoes, oh, and some broccoli, mustn't forget to book the dentists appointment, don't glare at me - how am I supposed to know you were going to step out of the door without looking, wonder where she got that coat from...'
You know the stuff.

Though it may seem pretty mindless stuff, it can actually be very powerful stuff, as this mental chatter and internal thoughts go a long way to programming your brain and how you feel.
If you are dwelling on an unpleasant situation and going over and over it again, you rapidly bring your emotions and feelings down into a negative spiral.

For example - spend a few moments thinking about the last time someone was rude to you. What did they say? What was their body language like? How did you react? How did you feel at the time? What would you do differently?
Now take a big breath and note how you feel right now. Are you angry, do you feel tension in your body, how positive or negative do you feel? Isn't it amazing that the person is not here with you, the situation is in the past, but you still feel all those emotions.

Now, think about the last time you laughed. Was it something someone did or said? A joke you heard, or a picture you saw? Was it a comedy show on tv? Did you laugh out loud, was it a real belly laugh?
Take a big breath and note how you feel this time. Do you feel happy? How positive or negaive do you feel? How different do you feel to a moment ago when you were thinking about the other situation?

I hope you can understand what I'm getting at.

So how does this relate to sleep?
Well, picture yourself having had only 5 hours sleep. It's the following morning, how do you feel? What emotions are going through you? The alarm goes off and what are you telling yourself? What is your 'chatter' saying?
Is it saying - Only 5 hours, how am I going to cope? I felt I was awake all night. How am I going to be at work? I feel so tired, I just don't know how I'm going to get through the day?

Or is it saying - 5 hours sleep, well that's 5 hours more than no sleep. At least I got some sleep. As I have slept, I know that I'll get through the day because I've done it before. Several times in fact.

Can you see the difference between the two sets of thought patterns. If you can start to shift from the first to the second then you are on your way to changing your mindset from one of an insomniac to one of a sleeper. And that's a step towards more sleep! You see a good sleeper doesn't worry about how much sleep they get. If they have a poor night's sleep (which they do) they don't worry about it, or start obsessing about it, they know they will sleep ok the next night. When they are talking to their friends they don't go on about a lack of sleep, in fact they probably don't mention sleep at all, unless asked.

From my experience it was difficult to start the shift of changing my internal chatter but I persisted and soon got the idea. I monitored my thoughts and would catch myself and then started to look for the positive things about how much sleep I got. Little by little it got easier to do. I began to feel more positive about my sleep and how much I was getting. I started to notice that I didn't feel so gloomy in the mornings, that I felt lighter. That in general my morning thoughts were more positive and I didn't get stuck in negative thought patterns, and if started to think negatively (about anything) that I would catch myself and start thinking about more enjoyable things. Now when I wake in the morning I scan my body to see how I'm feeling and take that as my starting point rather than trying to remember if I woke in the night or not.

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not leaping out of bed saying 'Yee hah, I got 5 hours sleep last night, I'm on fire!!' but the changes that I have made are notable. If my mental chatter does start drifting into the 'Only 4 hours sleep mode' I am able to quickly start reassuring myself that I will be able to cope. I also remind myself that I have been sleeping well, that this is a rare night etc.

What has been amazing is that by focusing on what sleep I am getting, rather than on what sleep I'm not, is that I am getting more sleep. It is simple 'What you focus on expands' and if you focus on a lack of sleep, that's what you see and if you focus on sleep, that's what you see.

Please try this for yourselves and note the differences in your feelings about sleep and how this impacts on how you cope with the day. Remember that this is the first step in changing your mindset, so congratulate yourself each time for doing it.
I would love to know how you are getting on either so please comment below or send me a message on facebook.

Till next time
Sweet dreams

3 quick steps to change your brain to a sleep mindset

Which of these statement rings true for you?

'It doesn't matter what I do, I always sleep badly.'

'Sleep's not a problem for me, I always sleep well.'

If you are reading this, then there is a good chance that it is the first statement! For a lot of people their insomnia will have started for a reason but it is the power of the mind that turns it from a temporary problem into a permanent one. Fortunately it is possible to use that power to change to the mindset of a good sleeper.

Good sleepers do not think about sleep, they accept it as part of their lives, they do not focus on it, obsess about it or talk about how much sleep they get. However these are subjects that an insomniac will focus on for hours on end and I know this, as it is what I used to do!
Here are 3 ideas to get you started in the process of changing to the mindset of a good sleeper.

1 - Stop clock watching.
Make the night yours and as long as it needs to be. If you constantly focus on the time and how little you have slept and how time is ticking away for you to get back to sleep, you are focusing on your lack of sleep and adding to your stress levels, which prevents your brain from relaxing and allowing sleep. If you wake and have no idea what the time is, you instantly allow more possibilities - perhaps you have only slept for an hour and have plenty of time to get more sleep, perhaps you have been asleep for hours already and you can doze a little before the alarm goes off. These thoughts are more relaxing and calming to the mind which in turn allows you to fall asleep more easily.
So switch your phone off, and turn your alarm clock to face the wall and allow the night to be as long as you want.

2 -  Be grateful for the sleep you do get.
It is all too easy to focus on how little you slept during the night, but hey - you slept, which is better than no sleep at all! Being grateful for the sleep you did get is a powerful step as it works in two ways. Firstly,what you focus on expands and by being appreciating the sleep you did get allows you to focus on sleep rather than the lack of it. Secondly, focusing on the sleep you did get changes your energy in a positive way. Say the following two phrases to yourself and see which one feels better to you - 'I only slept 4 hours last night, I should have got more.' or 'Hey, I got 4 hours sleep last night, I can cope with that!' you can feel the difference between the positive and the negative and it's the positive that is going to start changing your mindset.

3 - Think about the story you are telling yourself and others.
It may initially feel good to tell everyone that you are an insomniac and a poor sleeper as you do get some sympathy and attention. However the more you repeat this story the more ingrained it becomes in your mind and your personality. Though others may ask you each day how you slept and are concerned for you, it is putting you in the insomniac box and is that where you want to be? So the next time you are at work or with your friends and you are about to mention how badly you slept, ask yourself  'Is this what I want my story to be?' If it is not, change it to something more positive, or decide not to mention it at all.

These steps may seem difficult to do at first and I encourage you to persist with them, as you will be taking the first steps in reprogramming your brain for sleep!

Sweet dreams

Sleep deprivation

First of all, let me apologize for an absence of posts lately, I have been busy setting things up for my sleep coaching business, please check out my website, where you have access to a free guided meditation to help you sleep! Things are now back under control and I have more time to write blog posts!

I had an interesting conversation with a friend last night, actually that should be this morning, as it was around 1am, I am, as I have said before a night owl!

He brought up the fact that he wasn't an insomniac however he did not get enough sleep as he was always doing 'one more thing' before bed. He also mentioned the internet as being a big cause of this!

This got me thinking, we have heard a lot about how insomnia can lead to big health problems including weight gain, diabetes, stress, high blood pressure etc, but what does the effect of sleep deprivation have on health? In some ways insomnia and deliberate sleep deprivation are the same thing and a quick search through the internet reveals that yes, they do both have the same effect on your body.
So if you are someone who goes to bed late and therefore does not get enough sleep please read on for three surprising affects that may help you make more of an effort to go to bed on time!

It ages your skin. It seems that the term 'Beauty Sleep' holds true, and this should be enough to get everyone rushing in to bed to catch up on their zzzzzzz's. The first thing you notice is red and puffy eyes as well as grey rings under your eyes, and it can also lead to the development of fine lines. However lack of sleep also has more long term damage. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases more of the stress hormone cortisol. In excess amounts, cortisol can break down skin collagen, the protein that keeps skin smooth and elastic.
Sleep loss also causes the body to release too little human growth hormone. When we’re young, human growth hormone promotes growth. As we age, it helps increase muscle mass, thicken skin, and strengthen bones. It is in deep sleep when the growth hormone repairs the tissues in the body, are you getting enough deep sleep?

It makes you forgetful. Want to remain sharp and focused? Try getting plenty of sleep. Researchers determined that brain events called “sharp wave ripples” are responsible for consolidating memory. The ripples also transfer learned information from the hippocampus to the neocortex of the brain, where long-term memories are stored. Sharp wave ripples occur mostly during the deepest levels of sleep.

It impairs your judgment, especially about how much sleep you need! Lack of sleep can affect our interpretation of events. This hurts our ability to make sound judgments because we may not assess situations accurately and act on them wisely.
Sleep-deprived people seem to be especially prone to poor judgment when it comes to assessing what lack of sleep is doing to them. In our increasingly fast-paced world, functioning on less sleep has become a kind of badge of honor. However even if you think you’re doing fine on less sleep, you’re probably wrong. Studies have shown that even if you think your body has adapted to only six hours sleep, tests on mental alertness and performance show that is not the case.

So, if you wear your lack of sleep as a badge of honour, ask yourself is it really worth staying up to watch that tv show? Do you actually need to check that one last thing on the internet?
How about being kind to yourself and going to bed on time, aiming for 7 to 8 hours sleep, so you can wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed - ready to face the day! Check out my previous post about setting up a great bedtime routine to help you make the most of your sleep.

Sweet dreams!